Den Dagen, Den Sorgen
by Havoc-Cheese590
Summary: Picture a perfect society, we have achieved it, we are living it, we are thriving within it, we are perfectly happy inside it. This is truth and this is knowledge... as we are led to believe. I know differently now, my eyes have been opened. I know what I didn't know before, I thank you for this.


_"Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love." _

_-Khalil Gibran_

Before we even start talking, there's something I have to ask of you, the reader whoever you may be, to do first. I need you to lean back in whatever you may be sitting on - a chair, couch, or even better lay flat on the floor - and open your mind. I am by no means saying that I am about to flood you with thoughts of controversy or liberalism that require a new mindset, no what I am about to tell you requires a mind free logical criticism and free of the poisonous thoughts that prevent the reality of dreams. So relax, let all the morals and all the possibilities you have previously thought possible or impossible leave you. Breathe in the air, as if it's the first breath of fresh, cool air you've ever taken. Let it fill your chest from the bottom of your stomach, to the middle of your chest, and finally the top of your throat. Hold it right there for a moment, feel it swell inside of you.

Listen closely to your heartbeat. Feel exactly how your skin rests on the surface of your keyboard or mouse. Realize how soft your clothes feel on your body, how delicately that cloth rests against you. Feel the strands of your hair sweep across the nape of your neck or forehead. Now let out every breath of air. Feel it leave your body, feel all anxiety and negativity leave for now. Watch it flood away from you as you continue to take in more breaths of fresh air, new air, air that is pure and filled with a new set of possibilities, a new set of ideals, a new trust, a new and refreshed faith in humanity.

Picture a perfect a society, a society that has no need for way, a society that is entirely pure and clean. Envision buildings, sky scrapers and houses alike, that all function fully on clean, renewable energy. The pipes in these houses provide clean water that scientists have discovered how to preserve and provide far better than in the past. There is no such thing as pollution because trash now seems to disappear due to the reduction of packaging and non-renewable wares. Cars do not emit harmful fumes or exhaust, by now they are able to float using electro magnets built in the under carriage that deflect the some poles as the magnets beneath the street. Your neighbors are friendly, your living space comfortable, you will never have to know hunger, or pain or sadness. Even when it is raining the sun is still shining at least in your mind. The topic of suicide is almost unheard of due to how perfect life is here and even the thought of sadness enters a mind, help is readily made available.

Now envision a thing even more outlandish. A perfect government. This subject has been argued and debated and fought wars over for centuries. Keep breathing in the fresh air. Keep breathing in these new possibilities. Logic does not have a place right now; it's the idea of the matter that holds key. There is a government where the population as a whole trusts them. They are loved and they are fair, no one is not given their fair rights or justice. They see the population as people instead of numbers. Everyone is considered and no power is abused. Power seems even too harsh of a word for this government. They prefer the term "a higher citizenship" and even this seems too harsh for them.

They govern without hatred, without prejudice, without discrimination, without superiority complexes, without violence, without cruelty and without the lack of compassion or honesty. They are not liars. They are not deceitful. They are people and they make this publicly known.

They are people like you.

And like me.

Find it as impossible as you will, but this is the society I find myself residing in. This perfect, seemingly ridiculous optimistic society is where I live. I am that person lucky enough to have the government take care of my needs while there is food in my stomach and wonderful living conditions. Granted, this is most likely far into the past - or perhaps even future - when this is being read, giving myself an air of idiocy. To some I suppose I would sound like a liar, giving these images of a perfect society without war or poverty. However, this is why I requested you breathe in the new air first. To gain a new perspective.

I have done this myself many times. Taken a different standpoint to see more clearly how I would sound or look to others. I tend to scrutinize every word I let out of my mouth or put down on paper. I think far too much before I act, but I find a safety in this. However, there really is no better way for me to tell the beginning of all this - this mess and this awakening - without giving the air of irrationality.

I tried to reason with you reader, whether you have chosen to believe me or not is your own call. Whether you continue to believe me or not further on from here is your decision. Reading the rest of this is your own decision. Everything is your own decision. Whether I am real or not is your decision. Value that in your life, this is my greatest piece of advice.

It is the year 2570 AD. I am currently writing this from the outskirts of the United Republic of Scandinavia. This is your perfect society. This is my home. Was my home, could possibly be the past or future. It gets more confusing the more I go into it. Factual is best I'm guessing right now.

In the year 2482, off the coast of China, various fishing boats found a partially solidified yellow substance floating on top of the water. Originally this was thought to be a leak from another boat or some sort of sand. However, more of this substance was appearing along the Chinese coast, sometimes so thick it would block the surface of the water. Scientists responded and tested this material and what they found was something quite unusual. This stuff that was seemingly useless could be used as fuel and an energy source. Practically overnight, it was implemented and put in use virtually everywhere in China. It was renamed Irokite and replaced oil, petroleum, and other attempts at new energy. It took small amounts to work and the emissions were environment friendly. For about a year it could only be found along the Chinese coast and was only collected by the Chinese.

In 2484 it started appearing along east along the American coastline. The Americans, hearing of China's great success using Irokite began to use it too. They were a few small arguments between the two nations about who should and should not be able to harvest Irokite, but nothing serious since it seemed to be in great abundance. The rest of the world, however, was starting to become jealous. Many nations were becoming exhausted trying to find renewable sources of energy. They wanted it too. China wanted to keep the Irokite to themselves and America, but America began shipping Irokite to the United Kingdom. China's government wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea, but was willing to let it pass.

Though when word spread one country was getting shipments of Irokite the rest of the world wanted to be treated fairly and import it as well. America began shipping to various other countries - Russia, France, Germany - and around 2487 the Chinese government was growing tired and angry of spreading Irokite around. Irokite, as far as anyone knew, was not renewable and was not something to grow entirely dependent on in case it did run out. America refused to stop however and this sparked many angry debates and many harsh words, but through this America kept exporting.

Other countries, not wanting to depend on their energy through America's imports, started trying to find Irokite along their own coasts. It was determined that Irokite was originally found deep underneath the ocean floor which caused many nations to go looking for it. Unsuccessfully though, it seemed as though Irokite could only be extracted from the American and Chinese coasts.

In the year 2490, Sweden hit a gold mine of the stuff. They found piles and mounds of it deep into their waters in the far north. They became the third country able of not only using it independently, but also began shipping to other countries nearby. Sweden shared with its Scandinavian neighbors exclusively, not discriminating between the countries that it provided for. All were given equal shares and enough to get their countries through. The rest of the arguing world wanted a part of this peaceful of arrangement but Sweden – and the rest of Scandinavia – politely declined. If one were have to step foot inside the borders of this region, one would have felt a sense greater than community. Though it is cliché, it felt more like a family than anything… so I was told. It was a relationship that caused a mixture of reactions from the rest the rest of the world.

Some were inspired by this bond, wishing the rest of the world could be so friendly with one another. Because of the Ironkite the nations were getting along to an extent no society had ever seen. National leaders greeted one another with genuine smiles and hope for a strong future, no quarrels over the substance were which led to other major issues being put to bed without argument, as well as many other things. The world looked to us as a model, as the ones who had made the biggest leap towards world peace with such little effort. At summits, leaders from outside the region would hang their heads, others left to scratch their scalps as to how we'd done it.

But of course, where there is water, there is room for it to boil. Other nations were jealous of this peace and skeptical in their envy. They were waiting for a failure, waiting for something to go wrong so they could know they were right. Perhaps, looking back now, they truly were correct. Around the year 2510, there were healthy complications. It was hardly noticeable at first, a very hundred people or so with coughs that seemed to hang on longer than usual. Most health officials shrugged it off as whooping cough; after all it was only hitting the colder climates. Then the cough mutated into bronchitis and – as it spread – mutated again in pneumonia. More people were catching it and the cases were becoming far more serious. Not only was it in cold climates, but in warmer climates as well.

Of course most nations turned a blind eye of sorts as to what the real problem might have been and started to quarantine the infected. They thought perhaps the pneumonia was spreading due to raw exposure. It put a damper on the spread, but certainly didn't stop it. In 2520, just a short ten years later, the world declared an international emergency. Once research started being funded, the scientists and doctors traced almost every case back to Ironkite. I've read every single newspaper article written about the discovery as to what made it attack the human lungs so violently, but I am by no means a scientist and can never remember the exact names. Some particle reacted with oxygen which was induced by such and such which mutated in human mucus. That is the most intelligent response I can give.

What more I am able to tell you is that they discovered Ironkite was composed of leaked oil from ships that had collected over the years and combined with other pollutants in sea water. Needless to say given the pneumonia and its makeup, Ironkite was immediately outlawed and ordered to be disposed of. Every last drop of the substance was contained in yellow hazard barrels and shut away in deep storage. Sweden felt personally responsible for the poor, failing health in its fellow Scandinavian countries and poured much of its budget into the care and treatment of infected persons.

When the year rang 2537, the countries decided to pull together and name themselves "The Greater Union of Northern Scandinavia". It included all past Scandinavian countries, obviously, as well as fellow Nordics such as Finland and Iceland. It was meant to be temporary, leaders declared it as "a sign to our people that in times of fear, our neighbors and our family will show bravery, tying us together as one".

As they had been, they worked together. Doctors from all reaches tending to patients, people working hard to bottle up every ounce of Ironkite, and the union carrying on strong; we were expected to fail, that our union would falter and our sick would die. Many newspapers claimed it was brash decision, it was. Others said it was a pathetic attempt to prove the skeptics wrong, I very well see that now.

But above all, it was a beacon of hope. A message that we sent to the rest of the world that yes, we all have fought. Every one of us has felt hatred and anger; we have all felt pain dealt by the hands of others. We have bleed inside and we have cried ugly, bitter tears. However, we also showed that we were able to forgive, we did not blame, we did not point fingers, we received no demands for financial compensation, instead we pulled together and made the peace stronger, and we bonded and welded as one.

And this has not changed. We still live in the perfect society of The Greater Union, we still smile at our fellow man, we still believe in a peace that can cover us all. Even with the rest of the world cured of Ironkite we still are willing to jump to aid our brothers and sisters, even outside of our borders. We are the union and we are one, we are love, we are perfection.

As we are led to believe.

_Author's Note_

_I have been planning this story for over two years and I'm finally getting around to writing it. I know this first chapter is terribly dry but it needed to be explained pretty thoroughly. I promise later chapters will be at least a touch more exciting. Thanks for sticking through all that to the end! _

_This is going to be one of my longer pieces so if you're interested keep your eyes open for updates. I'll write and post new chapters as fast as my fingers can type, according to my schedule anyway. Thank you for reading!_

_Havoc_


End file.
